by TomHill » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:39 am
As related to me by AdamWebb of Odisea Wnry:
On the Caldwell Clone Grenache?
John Caldwell in Napa had a nursery business in the 1980's and brought in
some of the best clonal material from France ever seen in California. It
helped people like Pahlmeyer get famous. Some of the original plantings at
his vineyard in Napa included Grenache. I first tasted this fruit from this
clone in one of our growers vineyard blocks and noted how different one row
was from the next, he remarked that is the Caldwell. It is a little smaller
berry and cluster and darker colored but equally as sexy as Grenache can be.
The rumor is that the clone came from suitcase cuttings Caldwell brought
back from Chateau Rayas in CDP, but who knows, it is just some really great
fruit!